Recovered: Le Jardin by Henri Matisse was stolen from the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, 25 years ago

A British art sleuth has recovered a painting by French artist Matisse that was stolen from a Swedish museum 25 years ago.

Matisse's 'Le Jardin', valued at about 6 million crowns (£563,700), was recovered by Christopher Marinello, an art recovery specialist at the Art Loss Register in London.

'It is fantastic that the painting has turned up again,' said Kristin Ek, spokesman for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

'It was stolen so long ago that really we had almost given up hope.'

The painting was stolen in May 1987
when a thief used a sledgehammer to smash his way into the museum in a
night-time raid, escaping with the canvas moments before security
arrived.

The theft was
reported to both Interpol and the Art Loss Register (ALR), the world's
largest international private database of stolen, missing and looted
artwork.

According to
reports at the time, several attempts were made to ransom the painting
of sell it back to the museum, but after curators refused to hand over
cash the trail went cold for the next two decades.

The
painting was recovered after an art dealer in Britain checked with the
ALR's register before agreeing to handle the Matisse.

Once the match had been confirmed, Mr Marinello, executive director at the ALR, negotiated its safe return.

'We are happy the painting seems to be okay and in good condition,' said Miss Ek. 'It was a good start to the New Year.'

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Mr Marinello would not give details of how he got hold of the Matisse.

'Stolen artwork has no real value in the legitimate marketplace
and will eventually resurface. It's just a matter of waiting it out'

Christopher Marinello, executive director of the Art Loss Register

'No
arms were broken and no payments were made,' he said, adding the
painting would be returned to the museum through Sweden's ministry of
culture.

Mr Marinello also
hailed Lars Nittive, the director of the Moderna Museet in 1987, who
told reporters at the time the painting was too well known to sell on
the open market.

'I commend
the Museum for not giving in to ransom demands a quarter century ago,'
he said. 'Stolen artwork has no real value in the legitimate marketplace
and will eventually resurface... it's just a matter of waiting it out.'

Rightful home: The painting was stolen from the
Moderna Museet in May 1987 when a thief used a smashed
his way into the museum in a nighttime raid, escaping moments with the canvas moments before security arrived

WHAT IS THE ART LOSS REGISTER?

The Art Loss Register claims to be the world’s largest private database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables.

Art collectors, museums and galleries register the works in their possession with the ALR, and it works in concert with law enforcement agencies to find and recover any that are lost and stolen.

It also offers art dealers a due diligence service which allows them to check whether works they have been asked to handle are in fact stolen.

In recent years, the service has been extended to negotiate compensation to the victims of art theft and a legitimising of current ownership.

The current ALR, in operation since 1991, is based on the The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR), a not-for-profit organisation based in New York that began its art theft archive in 1976.

Its founding shareholders included major businesses from the insurance industry and art market.

Since beginning its operations, the ALR has recovered more than £160million worth of stolen items.

The Moderna Museet is still missing a painting by Georges Braque, after a theft in 1993.

Stolen art is a lucrative industry with $6-7billion worth of thefts every year, and the current global economic downturn has led to a surge in crimes, according to Mr Marinello.

Last year, for example, thieves made
off with paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and other prominent modern
artists from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum worth tens of millions of
pounds.

If thieves cannot collect a ransom from insurers or owners, the art is sold on the black market, often for a fraction of its real worth, or even exchanged for drugs or guns.

Over the past seven years, Mr Marinello has been responsible for recovering or negotiating settlements in art theft or title dispute cases worth over £160million.

Of the 360,000 objects remaining on the ALR's database, Mr Marinello said there were several he particularly wanted to find.

The first is a hoard including paintings by Vermeer, Degas and Rembrandt worth £185million stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990.

There is a £3million reward for the paintings.

'Then there is a Rafael stolen by the Nazis in WWII that is pretty nice,' he said.

Mr Marinello, however, will have his work cut out. By his admission, only 5-10 per cent of stolen art is ever recovered.

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Henri Matisse recovered: British art sleuth recovers 'Le Jardin' 25 years after it was stolen